Abstract. This article analyzes the dynamic of Brazilian system of cities illustrating the growth of Brazilian population through its own historical peculiarities like internal and international immigration, industrialization, metropolization. Urban hierarchy is revealed by means of the Zipf’s law and Gibrat’s model is used to describe the mechanisms of urban growth. Deviations from this model were explained by studying the specific trajectories of five different classes of cities, on various time scales (from 1872 to 2010 and from 1960 to 2010). These deviations highlight different kinds of factors (political, economic, localization of resources and historical accidents) that shaped the Brazilian system during the last century.